Dunn, Wolfram in Sentinel Top 10 with UPDATED honorable mention list

Thursday

Aug 3, 2017 at 7:00 AMAug 3, 2017 at 6:15 PM

Chris. Zadorozny @hollandsentinel.com, (616) 546-4290 ‏@SentinelZads

Editor's note: This story is part of a summer series highlighting the top high school male athletes in Holland-area history. An honorable mention list will follow at the end of the series with a place for reader voting on the top athletes.

With our Top 10 High School Male Athletes list originally made two years ago, we’ve had to add two athletes since that can be considered for the list.

Former Hamilton Hawkeye Grant Wolfram and Saugatuck Indian Blake Dunn would’ve made the list, had they finished high school two years ago.

Their respective careers during high school were incredible.

At Hamilton, Wolfram led the Hawkeyes to the Division 2 district title in 2015, going 9-3 with a 0.54 earned run average, striking out 98. He allowed just five earned runs all season in 64 1/3 innings.

“Just seeing his confidence level grow over the years was amazing,” Hamilton coach Ken DeGood said. “He was good but he didn’t know how good he was at first. Seeing the growth he’s had just from year to year has been amazing. He kept working at it every year and that’s why he’s gotten to the level he’s gotten to now.”

Wolfram was drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of high school but turned down the contract to attend Central Michigan where he posted a 0-2 record with a 6.66 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. It didn’t work out at CMU and now he’s found a home closer to home.

He’s now excelling at the college level at Davenport University, earning second-team All-American honors as a sophomore pitcher. He set the school record with 13 wins and struck out 100 in 93 1/3 innings this past season.

“When you are surrounded by a great group of guys that believe in you, it makes you go out there and pitch better, pitch for everyone,” Wolfram said. “I felt like it was going to be a good year for me. The last couple starts, the feel of all of my pitches has been big. Fastball, change-up, slider.”

Blake Dunn had an incredible career for Saugatuck. He excelled in football, basketball, baseball and track & field, earning all-state honors in all four.

In his senior year, the first-team all-state quarterback led Saugatuck with 1,981-rushing-yards on 138 carries for 34 touchdowns and was 42-for-66 for 751-yards and 12 touchdowns.

“He is just a natural, gifted athlete and has the ability to make plays,” Saugatuck coach Bill Dunn said. “Why anybody throws his way is beyond me. He has that unique ability to make plays and is such a competitor.”

In basketball, he broke the school record for most career points, averaging 23.3 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. He was all-state honorable mention twice.

Prior to the spring season, he tore his ACL and wasn’t able to finish out his stellar baseball career, which included all-state honors. But it won’t end as he is headed to Western Michigan to be a pitcher for the Broncos.

In his junior year, Dunn was all-state in all four sports and was the Division 4 state champion on the 110- and 300-meter hurdles.